2010 Race Report

Congratulations to all participants!!!

Based upon reports from you all as well as from our volunteers, this year’s event, it’s 21st year and 20th Anniversary Running, seems to have been another great success. 

The weather for the CPTR can and often is quite unpredictable & fickle – ranging from 3-4FT snow dumps (1999 and 2001) to warm and very sunny race days (the case many years). This year the weather was a nice, runner-friendly, mix.  Most of the State had experienced significant snowfall in the days leading up to this yea’s race – including Leadville, just up the road.  Folks were emailing in – wondering how bad things were here. While weather here had been unsettled and our 14er’s had were solid white with fresh snow, our status as the Banana Belt had been holding true – with no new snow in town or on the course.  Race day arrived and the temperature at race start was in the low to middle 20s – with mainly calm winds.  While temperatures in town rose to upper low 50s, with mostly- to partly- sunny conditions by mid-afternoon, winds picked up and included strong “gustings”.  However, most runner’s appeared comfortable in shorts and short-sleeved tops.  Course surface was in perfect condition – entirely snow-free and dry. 

This year’s level of registrations and field of runners on race day was the largest in this event’s history.  It was also great to see 1) so many first timers to our event (as high as 64%) and 2) the number of folks who indicated that they were tackling their respective distances for the first time.  Thank you all, especially, for choosing our race as your first!  As always, based upon recognized names and my own visits with folks throughout Friday afternoon and in the Pre Race Meeting, there appeared to be a wonderful cross section of runners – including seasoned, competitive runners across the board to those nervous, perhaps less experienced, first timers.  It’s a mix that we’ve enjoyed seeing each year of this event’s history. 

With such a large field, the level of competition seemed to have been “ratcheted up” just a bit.  While we perhaps didn’t see the number of course records that we saw last year, some margins of victories seemed possibly closer than we might normally expect. 

While all results and records can be seen on other pages of this web site, and while all results are truly remarkable, it is kind of fund to mention a few special items of note here …. 

25 Mile Race:  While we know that “Young Guns” are making headlines throughout trail running, this year, for the Men, the 30-39yr guys held control throughout – accounting for all three overall victory spots – and the 40-49yr guys put a great show as well! For the Women, things kind of the same – with the 30-39 age group accounting for all three top spots.  Melody Fairchild, out of the Boulder running community (and just written up in Colorado Runner Magazine), took first spot with a time of 3:24:32 – just 28 seconds shy of the current Women’s Course Record set last year by Keri Nelson of Gunnison. Second place finisher, Mariah Blair, with a time of 3:41:22 seemed particularly happy with her performance – and when pressed, admitted that this was the first time she’d covered such a distance (road, trail, race, or training run)! 

50 Mile Race:  For the Men it was an exciting race to fill the top three spots.  “Young Gun” Andy Henshaw (24) of Colorado Springs set a new Men’s Course Record in a time of 6:52:05 – a minute, thirteen seconds ahead of the previous course record set by Tony Krupicka in 2007!  He was closely followed across the finish line by Bill Fanselow (43) at 7:06:56 and last year’s winner John Anderson (31) at 7:12:16.  Bill’s finish bested the 40-49 age group record by over 38 minutes!  For the Women, another “Young Gun” proved victorious – with Ashley Arnold (23) of Carbondale crossing the finish line in 8:08:44 – and this was her 1st ever 50 mile event! 

As remarked above, in the end, you are ALL to be congratulated – regardless of “Place” or “Time”.  Training and participation in the event are what you should take pride and satisfaction in!  And we thank you for supporting our event – and thereby, in turn, assisting us in supporting the needs of the youth in our community. 

Hope to see everyone again next year – and bring your friends along!  In the meantime, see you on the trails. 

Burke Kaiser
Race Director - CPTR